Critics’ Picks, Oct. 20-26

Performances by Big Freedia, Show Me The Body, Rae Sremmurd, Skeletonwitch, and more

[HARDCORE, ETC.] + THU., OCT. 20

Show Me the Body is a fiery and inventive outfit that blends the sensibilities of hardcore with hip hop and punk. The music is primal but groovy, often forcing you to consider whether you want to dance or crowdkill everyone around you. Its latest album, Body War, is 30 minutes of vicious social commentary. Anti-police-brutality is a theme throughout the record, best expressed in “Death Sounds 2” and the biting “Chrome Exposed.” The lineup for this Roboto show has something for everyone, so if HxC isn’t your thing, dive into the indie-meets-punk goodness of Long Island’s Oso Oso. Opening this mixed-genre gig are locals Choir and Skull Kid. Meg Fair 7 p.m. 5106 Penn Ave., Bloomfield. $8. All ages. www.robotoproject.org

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Big Freedia

[BOUNCE] + THU., OCT. 20

Better bow down, the Queen of Bounce did not come to play. Tonight, her majesty Big Freedia performs New Orleans bounce that is destined to make your booty work, work, work. Local opening acts Moon Baby (who blends captivating pop music and performance art) and DJ SMI (who blends genres to create danceable eletronica),will certainly warm you up, so don’t worry about pulling a muscle. It all goes down in Spirit’s Psychedelic Creep Show Vault, a “sound-responsive, audiovisual, architectural installation” created by local visual artist Ian Brill. If you can’t make it out to see Freedia, Spirit will be hosting shows and other events in the vault nightly through Oct. 31, so you’ll have plenty of chances to lose yourself in the immersive, interactive space. Check the full schedule at Spirit’s website. MF9 p.m. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $20. 412-586-4441 or www.spiritpgh.com

[RAP] + MON., OCT. 24

Rae Sremmurd (comprised of brothers Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown) burst onto the scene a couple years back with tracks like “No Type” and “No Flex Zone” — perfect tunes to blast while kicking back on the porch, surrounded by empty Solo cups. The duo represents for ATL with its latest, SremmLife 2, an album that features Lil Jon and Juicy J. Joining Rae Sremmurd at Stage AE is fellow Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty. He teeters between supremely weird and ready to ramp up the party, which is a recipe for an unpredictable and unique performance. Eearz, Bobo Swae and Impxct round out the lineup. MF 7 p.m. 400 North Shore Drive, North Side. $35. 412-229-5483 or www.stageae.com

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Photo courtesy of Jeroen Mylle

Oathbreaker

[METAL] + TUE., OCT. 25

Long hair don’t care? Love to circle headbang and/or two step? Cattivo’s got you covered with a sampling platter of what’s good in heavy music right now. Tonight’s lineup features Ohio’s powerviolence champions Homewrecker, and Oathbreaker, a haunting black-metal-meets-post-hardcore outfit imported from Belgium and signed to Deathwish, Inc. Thrash supergroup Iron Reagan brings its unrelenting punk and thrash crossover music, offering a slightly more old-school sound. Topping things off is Skeletonwitch, whose sound was deemed by Disney’s House of Blues in Florida to be “unfit to associate with Disney.” That’s metal. MF 5:30 p.m. 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. $16-18. All ages. 412-687-2157 or www.cattivopgh.com